A photograph of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Nicodemus, Kansas.

The town of Nicodemus, Kansas was founded by a group of African Americans from Kentucky in 1877. It was one of the first all-black communities in Kansas. By the 1880s, Nicodemus had several hundred residents, some stores and businesses, a post office, churches, and a school. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in Nicodemus in 1879. Congregants met in each other’s homes until they raised funds to construct this building in the 1880s.